Cellular phone and personal protective equipment usage monitoring system

ABSTRACT

A cellular phone and personal protective equipment usage system comprises a camera for detecting a person within an environment and a processor which receives information detected by the camera and determines whether the person is involved in distracting activities such as using a cellular phone or other portable electronic device, or print media, or is using personal protective equipment, and issues an alarm signal upon determining that the person is using a cellular phone or is not using personal protective equipment. The camera may be provided on or within a vehicle and the person is an operator of the vehicle. Alternatively, the camera may be mounted in a stationary location within a working site.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/443,116, filed Feb. 15, 2011.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cellular phone and personalprotective equipment usage monitoring system and method that detects aperson within an environment, such as a vehicle, and determines if thatperson is involved in distracting activities such as using a cellularphone or other portable electronic device and/or is or is not usingpersonal protective equipment. The present invention can furtherdetermine whether a person is engaged in other unsafe activities,including the use of various types of print media, such as reading amagazine, book or newspaper, or doing a crossword puzzle. Imageinformation detected by the camera may be compared with prerecordedimages of cellular phones, other portable electronic devices and printmedia, or of personal protective equipment, that is stored in computerreadable memory and the determination of whether the person is using acellular phone and/or is or is not using personal protective equipmentmay be based on the comparison. An alarm signal may be issued if it hasdetermined that the person is using a cellular phone and/or is or is notusing personal protective equipment. The invention has particularutility in connection with working operations, such as a miningoperation, where the use of a cellular phone and/or the lack of use ofproper personal protective equipment is dangerous and may lead toproperty damage, injury and even loss of human life. The invention willbe described in connection with such utility, although other utilitiesare contemplated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is a well known problem that operators of a wide range of vehiclesoften use cellular phones while operating the vehicle. Whether using acellular phone to have a voice conversation, to compose a text messageor to surf the Internet, such use while operating a vehicle is adistraction to the vehicle operator and dramatically increases the riskof property damage, injury and even loss of human life. Otherdistracting activities, such as using a portable electronic device orprint media, pose similar risks. As used herein, the term “print media”generally refers to any printed material, including books, magazines,newspapers, crossword puzzles and the like. “Portable electronic device”includes all portable electronic devices as are known in the relevantart, including communication devices, video game devices, portable audioand video media players and laptops and other portable computers. Incertain operations, such as an underground or open pit mining operation,where vehicles operate within an environment including other vehicles,humans and/or other objects in close proximity, the risk of damage andinjury is heightened. In order to minimize capital losses and injuries,as well as to monitor generally the overall safety and performance ofthe operation, it is desirable to be able to monitor vehicle operators,detect the usage of a cellular phone or other electronic device, as wellas the improper use of various print media, and warn the vehicleoperator and operation supervisors so the unsafe activity will beterminated. Moreover, it is desirable to be able to monitor the entireworking site, not just vehicle operators, so that distracting and unsafeactivity may be detected.

Additionally, the use of personal protective equipment should be used,and may be required to be used, in certain working environments. Forexample, in a mining operation, many different types of personalprotective equipment may be used for worker safety, for vehicleoperators and for other personnel. Some examples of personal protectiveequipment include indicating equipment (toxic gas and oxygen indicators,combustible gas indicators, etc.), respirators, protective clothing,hard hats and other head protection, eye and face protection and hearingprotection equipment. When a worker fails to use the appropriateprotective equipment in a working site, that person jeopardizes his orher own safety, the safety of others, as well as the overall efficiencyof the operation. Thus, it is desirable to be able to monitor if aworker is involved in distracting activities such as the usage ofpersonal protective equipment, as well as the usage of cellular phonesor other electronic devices, and the improper use of various types ofprint media.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,597 discloses an apparatus for detecting the use ofsafety eyewear. An infrared transmitter is provided in an entryway thatworkers pass through. Workers wear the safety eyewear, which is equippedwith an infrared reflector. When a worker wearing the safety glassespasses through the entryway, the safety glasses are detected as infraredlight from a transmitter in the entryway is reflected off of theinfrared reflector on the glasses and is received by a receiver in theentryway. However, the apparatus only works within an entryway, andrequires the installation of an infrared reflector on the safetyglasses. U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,707 similarly discloses a safety equipmentdetection system that requires an infrared reflector affixed to thesafety equipment.

Facial recognition systems are also known in the prior art. For example,U.S. Pat. No. 7,602,947 discloses a facial recognition system used forvehicle security. The system uses an infrared camera directed at theface of a person in the driver's seat of a vehicle and enables operationof the vehicle if facial images detected by the camera match facialimages stored in a database.

However, there is a need in the field for a cellular phone and personalprotective equipment usage system that is capable of determining whethera vehicle operator is involved in distracting activities such as using acellular phone or other portable electronic device, print media and/orpersonal protective equipment, and alerting the vehicle operator, aswell as office or field supervisors, if a cellular phone or otherelectronic device or print media is being used or if the appropriatepersonal protective equipment is not being used. Moreover, there is aneed in the field for such a system that can detect the use of acellular phone or other portable electronic device, print media and/orpersonal protective equipment by persons other than a vehicle driver.The detection of cellular phone or other portable electronic device,print media and/or personal protective equipment and alerting thevehicle driver and supervisors fosters a safer working environment, andenables supervisors to more closely monitor the safety of the workingenvironment as a whole.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is directed to a cellular phone and personalprotective equipment usage monitoring system and method. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure provides a system that detects aperson within an environment, such as a vehicle, and determines if thatperson is involved in distracting activities such as using a cellularphone, portable electronic device or print media, or if that person isusing personal protective equipment. Image information detected by thecamera may be compared with prerecorded images of cellular phones,portable electronic devices or print media, or of personal protectiveequipment, that is stored in computer readable memory and thedetermination of whether the person is using a cellular phone, portableelectronic device, print media or personal protective equipment may bebased on the comparison. Moreover, the system may issue an alai iiisignal if it has determined that the person is using a cellular phone,portable electronic device or print media, or that the person is notusing personal protective equipment.

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a monitoring system thatincludes a camera for detecting a person within an environment and aprocessor which receives information detected by the camera anddetermines whether the person is involved in distracting activities suchas using a cellular phone, other portable electronic device or printmedia based on the received information. The processor is configured toissue an alarm signal upon determining that the person is using acellular phone, other portable electronic device or print media.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a monitoring systemthat includes a camera for detecting a person within an environment anda processor which receives information detected by the camera anddetermines whether the person is using personal protective equipmentbased on the received information. The processor is configured to issuean alarm signal upon determining that the person is not using personalprotective equipment.

In a further aspect, the present disclosure provides a method formonitoring the usage of at least one of a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device and print media performing the steps of: detecting,with a camera, a person within an environment; transmitting informationdetected by the camera to a processor; determining, by the processor,whether the person is using a cellular phone, other portable electronicdevice or print media based on the received information; and issuing analarm signal upon determining that the person is using a cellular phone,other portable electronic device or print media. The present disclosureprovides, in yet another aspect, a method for monitoring the usage ofpersonal protective equipment, performing the steps of: detecting, witha camera, a person within an environment; transmitting informationdetected by the camera to a processor; determining, by the processor,whether the person is using personal protective equipment based on thereceived information; and issuing an alarm signal upon determining thatthe person is not using personal protective equipment.

Moreover, the present disclosure provides an article of manufacture formonitoring if a worker is involved in distracting activities such as theusage of at least one of a cellular phone, other portable electronicdevice and print media, wherein the article of manufacture is incommunication with a camera for detecting a person within anenvironment, and the article of manufacture includes a processor and acomputer readable medium having computer readable code to effect:retrieving information detected by the camera; determining, by theprocessor, whether the person is using a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device or print media based on the received information; andissuing an alarm signal upon determining that the person is involved indistracting activities such as using a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device or print media.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides an article ofmanufacture for monitoring cellular phone usage, wherein the article ofmanufacture is in communication with a camera for detecting a personwithin an environment, and the article of manufacture includes aprocessor and a computer readable medium having computer readable codeto effect: retrieving information detected by the camera; determining,by the processor, whether the person is using personal protectiveequipment based on the received information; and issuing an alarm signalupon determining that the person is not using personal protectiveequipment.

The camera may be provided on or within a vehicle and the person is anoperator of the vehicle. Alternatively, the camera may be mounted in astationary location within a working site.

The alarm signal may be a visually displayable signal, or it may be anaudible signal.

The processor may be configured to transmit the alarm signal over awireless network. Moreover, a vehicle location detector may be providedand the processor may be configured to transmit the alarm signal and thelocation of the vehicle over a wireless network.

In one aspect, computer readable memory may be configured to storeinformation relating to prerecorded images of a cellular phone, otherportable electronic device, print media, or personal protectiveequipment, and the processor determines whether the person is involvedin distracting activities such as using a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device or print media, or personal protective equipment, bycomparing the information detected by the camera with the imageinformation stored in the computer readable memory.

In yet another aspect, computer readable memory may be configured tostore predefined location information that defines a virtual boundaryand the processor receives information detected by the vehicle locationdetector, determines whether the vehicle is within said virtualboundary, based on the information detected by the vehicle locationdetector and the stored predefined location information, and if thevehicle is determined to be within said virtual boundary, the processordetermines whether the person is involved in distracting activities suchas using a cellular phone, other portable electronic device or printmedia, or if the person is using personal protective equipment.

Accordingly, an advantage of the present disclosure is to provide acellular phone and personal protective equipment usage monitoring systemand method that can detect whether a person, such as a vehicle operator,is involved in distracting activities such as using a cellular phone,other portable electronic device or print media, or is using personalprotective equipment. Furthermore, an advantage of the presentdisclosure is to provide an alarm signal when the person is determinedto be involved in distracting activities such as using a cellular phone,other portable electronic device or print media, or not using theappropriate personal protective equipment. An additional advantage ofthe present disclosure is that the alarm signal may be transmitted overa wireless network, thereby providing the alarm to office or fieldsupervisors. The location of the vehicle may also be determined andtransmitted. Still further objects and advantages will become apparentfrom the detailed description and accompanying drawings.

The features, functions and advantages that have been discussed can beachieved independently in various embodiments of the present disclosureor may be combined in yet other embodiments, further details of whichcan be seen with reference to the following descriptions and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the invention will be seen from thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein like numerals depict like parts, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a cellular phone and personalprotective equipment usage monitoring system in accordance with oneaspect provided by the present disclosure; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a cellular phone and personalprotective equipment usage monitoring system in accordance with afurther aspect provided by the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way ofillustration, various embodiments of the present disclosure. It isunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and changes may bemade without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Many embodiments of the invention may take the form ofcomputer-executable instructions, including algorithms executed by aprogrammable computer. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciatethat the invention can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations as well. Certain aspects of the invention can be embodiedin a special-purpose computer or data processor that is specificallyprogrammed, configured or constructed to perform one or more of thecomputer-executable algorithms described below. Accordingly, the term“computer” as generally used herein refers to any data processor andincludes Internet appliances, hand-held devices (including palm-topcomputers, wearable computers, cellular or mobile phones,multi-processor systems, processor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, network computers, minicomputers) and the like.

The invention can also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments, where tasks or modules are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed computing environment, program modules or subroutines may belocated in both local and remote memory storage devices. Aspects of theinvention described below may be stored or distributed oncomputer-readable media, including magnetic and optically readable andremovable computer disks, as well as distributed electronically overnetworks. Data structures and transmissions of data particular toaspects of the invention are also encompassed within the scope of theinvention.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a primary example of a cellular phoneand personal protective equipment usage monitoring system 100 providedby this disclosure. A camera 110 is provided onboard the vehicle 101 andis situated in such a manner as to detect the operator's face. Thecamera 110 may further be configured to detect postural adjustments,face pose and gaze, shoulder or arm motions, and to track the motion ofthe operator's eyes. The camera 110 may be mounted, for example, on thevehicle dashboard, rearview mirror, sun visor or any other suitablelocation on or within the vehicle 101.

The camera may be a video camera, an infrared (IR) illuminated camera, aCCD scanning device, or any other suitable scanning system. An IRilluminated camera provides infrared illumination which allows thecamera to detect features even in dark conditions, such as in anunderground mine or nighttime conditions in an open pit mine. IR camerasare effective in applications with background light and in both brightand dark environments.

The vehicle 101 is also provided with an onboard computer 120. Theonboard computer 120 includes computer readable memory 121, and aprocessor 122. A display 140 and I/O devices 130 may be connected to theonboard computer 120, thereby allowing a user and/or peripherals tocommunicate with the onboard computer 120.

In one aspect of the cellular phone and personal protective equipmentusage monitoring system 100 provided by this disclosure, images ofpeople using a cellular phone and images of people using personalprotective equipment are previously recorded and the image data isstored in a database in memory 121 on the onboard computer 120.Furthermore, images of people using other portable electronic devices,such as various types of communication devices, video game devices,portable audio and video media players and laptops and other portablecomputers, may be previously recorded and the image data can be storedin memory 121 on the onboard computer 120. Additionally, images ofpeople using various types of printed media, including books, magazines,newspapers, crossword puzzles and the like, may be previously recordedand the image data may be stored in memory 121 on the onboard computer120. The prerecorded images may include images of people using cellularphones, other portable electronic devices, and print media, and imagesof people using or wearing personal protective equipment such asindicating equipment (toxic gas and oxygen indicators, combustible gasindicators, etc.), respirators, protective clothing, hard hats and otherhead protection, eye and face protection and hearing protectionequipment. Respirators may be of a type that is worn over the entireface or over a person's nose and mouth, and may be particulate,gas/vapor, air-supplied, self-contained breathing apparatus orcombination-type respirators. Protective clothing may include protectiveclothing that covers a person's head, face, and/or body. Eye protectionequipment may include safety glasses, goggles, face shields and thelike. Hearing protection equipment may include acoustic earmuffs as wellas other known hearing protection devices. The database of prerecordedimages includes images of people using these different types of objects(i.e. cellular phones, other portable electronic devices, print mediaand personal protective equipment) taken from an angle and distance froma camera that matches the view angle and distance that would normallycapture images of a vehicle operator's face when the vehicle operator isoperating the vehicle, depending on the mounting location of the camera110. In operation, the processor 122 receives information detected bythe camera 110 and determines whether the vehicle operator is using acellular phone, other portable electronic devices or print media, orwearing personal protective equipment based on a comparison of theinformation detected by the camera 102 with the information stored inmemory 121. The images of the vehicle operator are sent to the processor122 which executes an algorithm to compare the information received fromthe camera 110 with the prerecorded images of vehicle operators usingcellular phones, other portable electronic devices, print media andpersonal protective equipment that are stored in memory 121. When animage detected by the camera 102 matches an image stored in memory 121,the processor 122 can determine if the vehicle operator is using acellular phone, other portable electronic devices or print media, orusing the proper personal protective equipment. For example, if thecamera detects a vehicle operator using a cellular phone, e.g., holdingthe phone to his ear, the processor 122 will execute a comparisonalgorithm to compare the detected image with the prerecorded imagesstored onboard the computer. The detected image will match with an imageof a person using a cellular phone stored in memory 121, and theprocessor 122 may then determine that the vehicle operator is using acellular phone.

As a further example, if the camera detects a vehicle operator's facewithout a respirator, the detected image will not match with an image ofa person that is using a respirator stored in memory 121, and theprocessor 122 may then determine that the vehicle operator is not usinga respirator. Alternatively, the detected image may be compared with animage stored in memory 121 of a person that is not wearing a respirator.Upon comparison, the detected image will match the image of a personthat is not wearing a respirator and the processor 122 may thendetermine that the vehicle operator is not using a respirator. On theother hand, if the vehicle operator is wearing a respirator, thedetected image will match with an image of a person wearing a respiratorand will not match with an image of a person that is not wearing arespirator.

Similarly, if the camera detects a vehicle operator that is not wearingacoustic earmuffs, the detected image will not match with an image of aperson that is using acoustic earmuffs stored in memory 121, and theprocessor 122 may then determine that the vehicle operator is not usingacoustic earmuffs. Alternatively, the detected image may be comparedwith an image stored in memory 121 of a person that is not wearingacoustic earmuffs. Upon comparison, the detected image will match theimage of a person that is not wearing acoustic earmuffs and theprocessor 122 may then determine that the vehicle operator is not usingacoustic earmuffs. On the other hand, if the vehicle operator is wearingacoustic earmuffs, the detected image will match with an image of aperson wearing acoustic earmuffs and will not match with an image of aperson that is not wearing acoustic earmuffs.

As described in the preceding examples, the processor may be configuredto determine whether or not a person is using a cellular phone, otherportable electronic devices or print media, or personal protectiveequipment based on the presence of a matching image or based on a lackof a matching image.

The system may be modified depending on the type of safety equipment tobe detected. That is, if it is desirable that vehicle operators use aparticular type of protective equipment while operating a vehicle, thedatabase may be composed of prerecorded images of that particular typeof protective equipment. If multiple types of protective equipmentshould be worn, multiple databases may be configured with each databasecontaining images of a particular type of protective equipment, anddetected images may be compared with images from each database todetermine whether the vehicle operator is using each of the multipletypes of protective equipment.

In another aspect provided by this disclosure, known template andpattern matching techniques may further be employed with the presentinvention to determine the presence of a cellular phone, other portableelectronic devices, print media or personal protective equipment in animage detected by the camera 110. Furthermore, other known computervision object recognition techniques may be utilized to detect andrecognize such objects. For example, known appearance based objectrecognition techniques may be employed, including edge matching,grayscale matching and gradient matching techniques, to detect andrecognize the presence of certain objects in an image, including acellular phone, other portable electronic devices, print media orpersonal protective equipment such as indicating equipment (toxic gasand oxygen indicators, combustible gas indicators, etc.), respirators,protective clothing, hard hats and other head protection, eye and faceprotection and hearing protection equipment.

Furthermore, the use of a cellular phone, other portable electronicdevice and print media may be determined based on the behavior of thevehicle operator's eyes, as detected by the camera. Cellular phones andother portable electronic devices are commonly equipped with variouscapabilities which, when used while operating a vehicle, may distract avehicle operator and cause a decrease in awareness and increase the riskof an accident. For example, cellular phones and other portableelectronic devices can be used to compose and transmit text messages,play games, surf the Internet, read electronic books or othertextually-displayed information, play audio and video media, as well asvarious other potentially distracting uses. When a vehicle operator usesa cellular phone for one of these potentially distracting uses, forexample to compose a text message or surf the Internet, such use can bedetected because the vehicle operator will continually look at thephone, or will alternate between looking at the phone (usually in adownward or side direction) and looking forward at the road. Similarly,the use of other portable electronic devices, and even print media, canbe determined based on the detected movements of the vehicle operator,including the movements of the vehicle operator's eyes.

Thus, the use of a cellular phone or other portable electronic device tocompose a text message, play games, surf the Internet, read electronicbooks or other textually-displayed information, listen to music or otheraudio media, watch movies or other video media, as well as otherpotentially distracting uses may be detected, for instance, if theoperator's eyes are directed downward for more than a quick transitoryglance, or if the eyes are repeatedly directed downward over a shortperiod of time. Detection of the use of a cellular phone or otherportable electronic device in a distracting or unsafe manner, includingthose activities mentioned above, may further be aided by detecting theoperator's body movements, such as shoulder or arm motions that maygenerally indicate that the operator is composing a text message.Similarly, the use of print media, for example reading a book or amagazine, or doing a crossword, can be determined based on the detectedmovements of the vehicle operator, as discussed above.

If the processor 172 determines that the vehicle operator is using acellular phone, other portable electronic device or print media, or isnot using the appropriate protective equipment, an alarm signal may betransmitted to the vehicle operator. The alarm signal may be issued bythe processor 122 and may be output through speakers in the vehicle caband/or may be visually displayed by the display 140.

A different alarm signal may be output depending on whether the vehicleoperator is determined to be using a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device or print media, or whether the vehicle operator isdetermined to not be using personal protective equipment. Moreover, adifferent alarm signal may be output for each type of personalprotective equipment that the vehicle operator is determined to not beusing. For example, a distinctive alarm may be issued when the processor122 has determined that the vehicle operator is using a cellular phone.A different distinctive alarm may be issued when the processor 122 hasdetermined that the vehicle operator is not wearing a particular type ofprotective equipment. Each type of protective equipment may have anassociated distinctive alarm. The issued alarm may be an audible tone ora voice outputted from the speakers that directs the operator to not usethe cellular phone, use the appropriate personal protective equipment,or to take some other safety-related action. Furthermore, the alarm maybe displayed visually on the display 220 on the onboard computer 200 inthe form of text, an icon or an image that identifies the cause of thealarm, i.e. whether the alarm is issued for the use of a cellular phone,other portable electronic device or print media, or for a particulartype of protective equipment that is not used.

In another aspect, the vehicle 101 may further be provided with avehicle location detector 150. The vehicle location detector 150 mayutilize any of a number of known location detection techniques,including Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and inertial navigationsystems, to detect the location of the vehicle 101. Thus, by using GPSor other location determining technologies, the location of the vehiclemay be determined.

Certain areas in a working site such as an underground or open pitmining site, within which particular personal protective equipmentshould be or is required to be used, may be predefined based on, forexample, GPS coordinates. As such, a number of virtual boundaries may bepredefined, and their locations may be stored in memory 121 in theonboard computer 120. When the vehicle 101 enters such a virtualboundary, the processor 122 may determine, based on the boundarylocation stored in memory 121 and the current vehicle location providedby the vehicle location detector 150, that the vehicle 101 has entered,or is about to enter, such a boundary. The processor 122 may then beginthe process of determining whether the vehicle operator is using theparticular personal protective equipment required for the particularpredefined area. Thus, in areas where personal protective equipment isnot required, the processor 122 does not need to determine whether ornot the vehicle operator is using personal protective equipment.Moreover, in those areas where only a specific type of personalprotective equipment is required to be used by the vehicle operator, theprocessor 122 may limit its comparison search to the database containingimages of that particular type of protective equipment.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates further details of the cellular phoneand personal protective equipment usage monitoring system 100 of thepresent disclosure. The camera 110, onboard computer 120 with processor122 and memory 121, display 140, location detector 150, and I/O devices130 are provided on vehicle 101 and operate in the same manner asdiscussed above in relation to FIG. 1. A wireless communication device210 is further included onboard the vehicle 101. The wirelesscommunication device 210 communicates with a central computer 203through a wireless network 202.

The central computer 203 includes computer readable memory 230, and aprocessor 240. The central computer 203 communicates with wirelesscommunication device 220, thereby enabling communication between thecentral computer 203 and other devices through wireless network 202. Adisplay 250 and I/O devices 260 may be connected to the central computer203, thereby allowing a user and/or peripherals to communicate with thecentral computer 203. The central computer 203 may be a central server,which may be accessible to other computer terminals through a wired orwireless network.

The detection of personal protective equipment and cellular phone, otherportable electronic device or print media use, may be accomplished asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 1, and the alarm indicating thatthe vehicle operator is using a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device or print media, or is not using the proper personalprotective equipment, may be sent through the wireless network 202 tothe central computer 203 and may thus be output or displayed as anaudible or visual warning. Furthermore, the location of the vehicle 101and the particular cause of the alarm (e.g. the operator is using acellular phone, is not wearing the required acoustic earmuffs, etc.) maybe transmitted to the central computer 203.

Wireless communication devices 210, 220 enable communication between thecentral computer 203 and the onboard computer 120. The wirelesscommunication devices 210, 220 may be located with or within the centralcomputer 203, with or within the vehicle 101, and/or at other pointslocal to a working site, such as an underground or open pit mining site.The wireless network 202 may be any type of wireless computer networkthat enables communication between devices, for example Wireless LAN,Wi-Fi, mobile device networks, and/or 3G communications protocols.

Providing the central computer 203 with an alarm indicating that thevehicle operator is using a cellular phone, other portable electronicdevice or print media, or is not using the proper personal protectiveequipment allows a user of the central computer 203 to better monitorthe safety of the vehicle operator, as well as the safety of anoperation, such as an underground or open pit mining operation.Additionally, providing the central computer 203 with the location ofthe vehicle 101 and the cause of the alarm allows a user of the centralcomputer 203 to better monitor safety and to know the location of thevehicle 101 and vehicle operator. Furthermore, other users, such asfield supervisors, may carry wireless communication devices that may beconfigured to receive the issued alarms, as well as the cause of thealarm and the location of the vehicle 101, through the wireless network202.

The central computer 203 may further include a computer displayable mapof the environment, such as an underground or open pit mine, on whichthe locations of the vehicles and any associated alarms may bedisplayed.

In yet a further aspect, the present disclosure provides a cellularphone and personal protective equipment usage monitoring system thatoperates in the same way as described above, with reference to FIGS. 1and 2, except the camera 110 is provided in a stationary location withina working site instead of onboard a vehicle. For instance, the cameramay be mounted on a pole, or other stationary structure, within anunderground or open pit mining site. Moreover, a plurality of camerasmay be provided within the working site. The camera 110 may be situatedin such a manner as to capture images of working personnel within thesite.

Images detected by the camera 110 are transmitted over a wirelessnetwork 202, where they are received by a central computer 203. Theprocessor 240 may then employ any of the techniques described throughoutthis disclosure for determining whether the working personnel is using acellular phone, other portable electronic device or print media, orpersonal protective equipment, including comparing the received imageswith image information stored in memory 230. When the processor 240determines that the person is using a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device or print media, or is not using a particular requiredpiece of protective equipment, an alarm may be issued which is output ordisplayed, audibly or visually, such that a user of the computer maybecome aware of the unsafe condition.

While the cellular phone and personal protective equipment usagemonitoring system of the present disclosure has been described primarilyin reference to a single vehicle, a plurality of vehicles may beincluded in the system, with each vehicle provided with a camera todetect objects as described above.

The system may be implemented in software or firmware that is stored ina memory and that is executed by a suitable instruction executionsystem. If implemented in computer hardware, the system can beimplemented, for example, with any or a combination of the followingtechnologies, which are all well known in the art: a discrete logiccircuit(s) having logic gates for implementing logic functions upon datasignals, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) havingappropriate combinational logic gates, a programmable gate array(s)(PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.

The system may be implemented in software, as an executable program, andis executed by a processor within a special or general-purpose digitalcomputer, such as a personal computer (PC; IBM-compatible,Apple-compatible, or otherwise), workstation, minicomputer, mainframecomputer, handheld computer or a personal data assistant (PDA). Aprocessor is a hardware device for executing software, particularly thatstored in computer memory.

Various changes may be made in the above disclosure. For example, thesystem may include a memory for temporarily storing images. In order tominimize storage, if no alarms are triggered, the memory may be set topurge automatically after a period of time which could be minutes, hoursor days. On the other hand, if an alarm is triggered, the memory wouldsave images surrounding the alarm. These saved images may be useful inaccident reconstruction and/or worker discipline or worker training.Still other changes may be made without departing the spirit and scopeof the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A driver operated vehicle monitoring systemcomprising: a camera provided on or within the vehicle for detectingimages of the driver within the vehicle; a processor provided on orwithin the vehicle which receives information detected by the camera anddetermines whether the driver is involved in distracting activitiesbased on the received information wherein the distracting activities areselected from the group consisting of using a cellular phone, anotherportable device, and reading print media; and computer readable memoryprovided on or within the vehicle configured to store informationrelating to prerecorded images of a person holding a cellular phone toan ear, the eyes of a person using another portable electronic device,and the eyes of a person reading print media, wherein said processorcompares images of the driver's ear and eyes and said stored informationto determine during operation of the vehicle whether the driver is usinga cellular phone, another portable electronic device, and reading printmedia, and wherein the processor is configured to issue an alarm signalupon determining that the driver is using at least one of a cellularphone, another portable electronic device, and reading print media. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the alarm signal is a visuallydisplayable signal.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the alarm signalis an audible signal.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to transmit the alarm signal over a wireless network.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a vehicle location detector,wherein the processor is configured to transmit the alarm signal and thelocation of the vehicle over a wireless network.
 6. The system of claim1 further comprising: a vehicle location detector; and computer readablememory configured to store predefined location information, saidpredefined location information defining a virtual boundary, wherein theprocessor receives information detected by the vehicle locationdetector, determines whether the vehicle is within said virtualboundary, based on the information detected by the vehicle locationdetector and the stored predefined location information, and if thevehicle is determined to be within said virtual boundary, the processordetermines whether the person is using a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device or print media.
 7. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising a memory for recording images of the driver when an alarmsignal is issued.
 8. A method for monitoring the usage by a driverwithin a vehicle of at least one of a cellular phone, other portableelectronic device and print media, comprising the steps of: detecting,with a camera provided on or within the vehicle, images of the driver'sears and eyes within the vehicle; transmitting information detected bythe camera to a processor provided on or within the vehicle; storinginformation relating to prerecorded images of a person holding acellular phone to an ear, the eyes of a person using another portableelectronic device, and the eyes of a person reading print media, incomputer readable memory provided on or within the vehicle; determining,by the processor and during operation of the vehicle, whether the driveris using at least one of a cellular phone, other portable electronicdevice, and print media by comparing images of the driver's ears andeyes with the prerecorded image information; and issuing an alarm signalupon determining that the driver is using at least one of a cellularphone, another portable electronic device, and reading print media. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the alarm signal is a visuallydisplayable signal.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the alarm signalis an audible signal.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the processoris configured to transmit the alarm signal over a wireless network. 12.The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of: detecting thelocation of the vehicle; and transmitting the alarm signal and thelocation of the vehicle over a wireless network.
 13. The method of claim8, further comprising the steps of: detecting the location of thevehicle; storing predefined location information in computer readablememory, said predefined location information defining a virtualboundary; transmitting the detected vehicle location to the processor;and determining, by the processor, whether the vehicle is within saidvirtual boundary, based on the detected vehicle location and the storedpredefined location information, wherein the processor determineswhether the person is using a cellular phone, other portable electronicdevice or print media if the vehicle is determined to be within saidvirtual boundary.
 14. The method of claim 8, including storing images ofthe driver when an alarm signal is issued.
 15. An article of manufacturefor monitoring the usage by a driver within a vehicle of at least one ofa cellular phone, other portable electronic device and print media,wherein the article of manufacture is in communication with a cameraprovided on or within the vehicle for detecting images of the driver'sears or eyes within the vehicle, said article of manufacture comprisinga processor provided on or within the vehicle with a computer readablemedium having computer readable code to effect: retrieving images of thedriver detected by the camera; storing information relating toprerecorded images of a person holding a cellular phone to an ear, theeyes of a person using another portable electronic device, and the eyesof a person reading print media, in computer readable memory; comparing,by the processor and during operation of the vehicle, images of thedriver's eyes or ear detected by the camera with the prerecorded imageinformation to determine whether the driver is using a cellular phone,another portable electronic device, and reading print media; and issuingan alarm signal upon determining that the driver is using at least oneof a cellular phone, another portable electronic device, and readingprint media.
 16. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein thecomputer readable code further comprises a computer readable programstep of: transmitting the alarm signal over a wireless network.
 17. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 15, wherein said article of manufacturefurther is in communication with a location detector for detecting thelocation of said vehicle, wherein the computer readable code furthercomprises a computer readable program step of: transmitting the alarmsignal and the location of the vehicle over a wireless network.
 18. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the computer readable codefurther comprises a computer readable program step of: storing images ofthe driver when an alarm signal is issued.